STOLEN SINS.

They say cursed women don’t cry — they burn. Well, if that’s true, I’ve been burning for months now. I sit here, in the dim light of this old bookstore, tracing the edge of a forgotten leather-bound book, trying to fill the emptiness with something other than thoughts of him. The shop smells like dust, like time, like stories left untouched. No one ever comes here unless they’re searching for something lost, something they don’t even know they need. And I, like the books on the shelves, am a relic — a small worker in a corner of the world, my own story locked away in silence. Four months. It’s been four months since Azael disappeared, leaving nothing but a void behind. No goodbyes. No explanations. Just… gone. I should’ve been fine by now. I should’ve stopped waiting for a ghost to come back. But something about him — something about us — never quite let me go. So, I stayed here. Shelving books, cleaning windows, filling the silence with the soft sound of pages turning. Each day, I moved through the motions, pretending I didn’t feel the ache that had settled in my chest, that I wasn’t still holding onto the memory of a person who had probably forgotten all about me. I shouldn’t have waited. I shouldn’t have kept hoping that one day, he'd just walk back in and make everything… make it all right. But I did. And then, as I was sinking into the quiet, the door creaked open. I froze. My heart skipped a beat. I didn’t need to see him to know it was him. "Still playing the waiting game, Noura?" The voice I had tried so hard to forget. I looked up slowly, unable to stop the rush of emotions that hit me in waves. There, in the doorway, stood Azael. Same dark, mysterious presence. Same silver eyes that seemed to pierce straight through me. The years might have passed, but he hadn’t changed. And neither had the way my heart reacted to him. "You’re late," I said, my voice betraying the emotions I couldn’t contain. "I thought I buried you, Azael. I thought you were dead." “I know,” he replied casually, like it was nothing. “That’s how I found my way back.” Back. Just like that. I should’ve screamed at him, demanded answers, but I couldn’t find the words. “I burned your name,” I said, my voice sharp, trying to keep my anger in check. “I made sure you couldn’t come back. You should be gone.” Azael didn’t flinch. He just smiled that infuriating, knowing smile. “You don’t really believe that, do you? A curse from you couldn’t keep me from what I want. It’s always been this way.” His words hit me like a slap. I hated how easily he could make me feel small, like I had no control over anything, least of all myself. “You think I want you here?” I asked, my fists clenched by my sides. “You disappeared without a trace. And now, after everything—” I couldn’t even finish the sentence. My breath caught in my throat. Azael took a step closer, his eyes darkening with something I couldn’t quite place. “Something did happen, Noura. But I’m here now. And I need you.” My heart twisted. I shouldn’t have let him affect me this way, but there I was, still tangled up in him. “Need me?” I whispered, though I hated how small I sounded. “After four months, you just walk back in and need me? For what?” He closed the distance between us, his gaze intense. “For everything.”